Montepaschi Siena bags scoring champ Rakocevic

Montepaschi Siena added an elite scorer to the mix with the signing of the only three-time Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy Winner, Igor Rakocevic. The shooting guard led the Euroleague in scoring for the 2006-07, 2008-09 and 2010-11 seasons. Last season he did so with 17.2 points per game for Efes Pilsen. Rakocevic (1.91 meters, 33 years old) has averaged double figures in points in each of his eight Euroleague seasons. He enters the season ranked seventh on the Euroleague career scoring list with 2,149 points and his career 15.4 points per game average is the highest among any of the competition’s top 15 scorers. Rakocevic also ranks among the Euroleague career leaders in free throws made (fourth, 513) and three-pointers made (eighth, 266). During his career, Rakocevic has been named to the All-Euroleague First Team and Second Team once each. He has also won gold medals at the European and World Championships with the Yugoslavian national team.

Rakocevic began his career with Red Star Belgrade in his native Serbia before moving to Buducnost Podgorica, with whom he made his Euroleague debut in the 2000-01 season. After two seasons with Buducnost and another in the NBA with Minnesota, Rakocevic returned home to Red Star and spent a year each with Valencia and real Madrid before settling to Tau Ceramica – now Caja Laboral – from 2006 through 2009. During that period, Rakocevic was at his best and helped the club to two Euroleague Final Fours, one Spanish League title and one Spanish King’s Cups in addition to his first two Ford Trophies. He spent the past two seasons with Efes in Turkey. "I am very happy and ready to start this adventure. Montepaschi is one of the candidates to win the Euroleague, the only trophy that I am missing. I chose Montepaschi because it has great players and a great system" Rakocevic said. "I cannot wait to become part of this team. I want to thank Montepaschi president Ferdinando Minucci and all the staff in Siena putting their confidence in me."